Warriors: The Fate Of Ice
by DivineDragonSpirit98
Summary: For as long as she could remember, Ice has lived in a cage, watching her kind taken away from their cages one at a time and never seen again. She and Frost have survived the Twolegs 'experiments' the longest, but Ice and Frost refuse to except fate in the paws of the wretched Twolegs. One day they'll escape, and together search for the perfect place to finally call home.


An eerie quietness had settled over the DawnClan camp. Bitter cold wind caused the leafless trees to creak in protest, breaking the silence. Before long snow began to fall, signaling the beginning of leaf-bare.

Without disrupting any cat's sleep, a young dark grey tom ventured out of the apprentices' den on light paws. He scanned his surroundings, only to see the large pool at the center of the empty, snow-flecked clearing. Even though he had spent the whole day training with his mentor, the tom felt restless. Just three nights before he received his name Silverpaw, and still a tingle of excitement ran through his veins at the memory.

A snowflake landed on his nose, causing him to sneeze. After glaring at the barely visible clouds for a few moments, he sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to win at this staring contest. Once he shook the cold from his pelt, Silverpaw walked over to the pool on stiff muscles. As he sat down he noticed ice had already begun to form on the edges of the water, reminding the tom of his younger sister. His mother, Ravenwing, gave birth to Icekit, a tiny black and silver she-cat, that morning. He purred, remembering the sight of his new kin, yet was worried that such a small kit would have difficulty surviving leaf-bare. But it wasn't just the harshness of the season that concerned him the most…

Suddenly, when a jolt of adrenaline charged through him, Silverpaw stood tense on his paws. He unsheathed his pale white claws. Why did it feel like somebody was watching him? His fur bristled as he tasted the air. The tom could smell nothing in particular other than the musty scent of dead leaves.

Another gust of wind blew into the clearing, and Silverpaw caught a different scent. His eyes widened in shock and whatever warmth in his pelt rapidly seeped out as he recognized the scent. Bird. Or to be more specific, raven. Slowly turning his head towards the scent, the tom prayed to StarClan it wasn't the raven Silverpaw was thinking of.

But it was.

Perched on a branch above the nursery was a raven unlike any other he's seen. More than twice the size of a normal raven, the bird stared down at him with haunting, glowing red eyes. No doubt it could sense the fear coming from him and for good reason too. Whenever that raven appeared it meant a kit or a young apprentice is going to or already has disappeared. Memories of poor Rosekit rushed back to him…

He pushed the memory away and darted over to the nursery, his pelt trembling the nearer he got to the raven as it watched his every move. 'My sister could be in danger!' he thought. Silverpaw wriggled into the den, his eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness. Curled up in the farthest corner of the nursery was his mother Ravenwing, fast asleep. But what he saw, or rather what he didn't see, is precisely what Silverpaw feared.

Icekit was missing.

He trotted up to his mother and nudged her awake. In a hushed voice he said, "Ravenwing? Ravenwing! Wake up! C'mon!"

The black she-cat blinked open her green eyes. "Silverpaw? What is it?" Ravenwing looked to her side for her kit. Her eyes widened. "Where's Icekit!?" Her voice became agitated as she scanned the nursery for her kit.

"That's why I woke you up. The raven… it's in the camp," Silverpaw explained, unable to hide his distress. Every cat within the clans knows that the raven was bad news. It didn't matter how a cat disappeared or why, but one was sure to go missing.

Ravenwing got up and, before she paced out of the nursery, turned to her son. "Go find your father; he should be guarding the camp entrance. I'll wake Dawnstar."

Silverpaw nodded and followed his mother out of the nursery. He dashed to the camp entrance and while carefully trotting through the tunnel, avoiding any thorns sticking out. Once he was at the other end of the tunnel, he narrowed his eyes, searching for his father. Worried, he called out, "Talonstripe! Where are you?" He was afraid to go any farther than the camp entrance alone. Silverpaw was just made an apprentice three days ago and wasn't even allowed to venture any farther without a warrior with him.

The tom shook his head. If he was this afraid, he will never become a warrior. Silverpaw tasted the air, catching a whiff of a raw, metallic scent… cat's blood. Clumsy with dread and shock, the grey cat staggered through the woods, following the scent. His mind came up with the worst possibilities of what might have happened. 'Please StarClan; don't let it be my father or my sister, _please_!' The tom trekked farther until he reached the edge of the forest, where the land formed into empty, open moors. Although the plains belonged to DawnClan, he was still nervous to venture from the cover of the forest. 'Why do I have to be such a coward?' The grey cat took in a deep breath, only to have a coughing fit.

He choked at the overwhelming scent of blood around him. The snow had stopped, and the full moon shown down, revealing what the shadows of the clouds hid. White snow and dead undergrowth were tainted by blood. 'But whose blood is it?' A bit of white fur caught on a low branch drew his attention. Sniffing the fur, Silverpaw was filled with anger and confusion. He didn't even have time to question the situation when a moan made the tom's ears twitch. Searching for the source, he saw a white, grey spotted cat laying in the snow, covered in so much blood the cat was hardly recognizable. Horrified, Silverpaw knew who it was. Talonstripe.

Pressure and anxiety built up in the apprentice's chest as he ran over to his father. "Talonstripe? It's me, Silverpaw." The warrior lifted his head, his eyes glassy. He mumbled, "Silverpaw? Listen to me; I might not have much time left… so I need you to… do something for me." Silverpaw's eyes widened and shook his head.

"No! You can't die! C'mon, I can help you back to camp and –" Talonstripe cut him off in a grave tone.

"Silverpaw, listen… your sister Icekit… was taken by… Bandit," the warrior wheezed in between words and hacked out blood before continuing, "That no good coward… he's headed to the other side… of the moorland… to the Twoleg… nests. I need you to… tell Dawnstar that… Bandit is behind almost all of… the disappearances of cats… from all the clans…" But still Silverpaw refused to follow Talonstripe's order.

"But I can't just leave you here to die! I won't let you!" Talonstripe wasn't going to put his life in front of his own clan mates, so he snapped, "As your father and as deputy… I order you to… go back to camp… and tell Dawnstar… what has happened. If I die… at least I fought… and served my clan…" He dropped his head back onto the ground. Silverpaw did not waste any time though to deliver the message. Maybe if he got there fast enough, there would still be time to save Talonstripe, and hopefully save Icekit.

As the first rays of sunlight rose over the horizon, Silverpaw told Dawnstar what the loner Bandit had done, and immediately a patrol was sent after him. A second patrol was sent to fetch Talonstripe, who miraculously survived, but because his wounds did not heal properly, the warrior was forced to step down from his position as deputy and move into the elder's den. After the patrol returned, they came back empty pawed. Bandit had gotten away once again, and with Icekit. The loss of such a young life was devastating to the whole clan, especially to Silverpaw, Ravenwing, and Talonstripe. Icekit was the only kit in DawnClan, and every cat was worried that the end of DawnClan was nearing, and they're existence was not long-lived.

Never has a single cat that had disappeared ever returned, but only one cat was willing to not give up. Silverpaw promised himself that he would train to be the best warrior of DawnClan. Once he was done with his training he would search for Bandit to get his revenge and find his sister. Icekit was his only kin other than his mother and father; he wasn't going give in as easily as the rest of the clan.


End file.
